Tennis up, golf down a bit

[nevets88]

Of course the numbers are debatable, but the one thing that stuck out in this article is that tennis balls have stayed the same $2 - $2.50. I remember tennis balls being $2 10 to 20 years ago. If I recall correctly, tennis balls were always sold at a loss - they're more sort of advertising.

How much were golf balls in say 1995? A different story back then, fewer choices obviously, but I think a box of Titleist balatas was what, $20, $25?

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/...er=rss&emc;=rss

[clubchamp]

A lot of sports are trending down overall football and baseball are both trending down in America. I think golf is trending down because of the time it take to play a round of golf. It's sad because I can't tell you the last time I saw kids playing tackle football or wiffle ball in a park or some ones back yard. All I did as a kid is played outside for hours and you just don't see it anymore. I hate to say but I like video games as much as the next person but they have taken kids away from wanting to go outside.

[double_j]

Also, keep in mind that it's a bit harder to differentiate tennis balls because whatever advantage you get from new designs also goes to your opponent and overall tennis ball standardization is pretty heavily regulated by governing bodies. There's just no incentive to introduce features worthy of a price premium.

I'm sure prices have mostly kept up with overall inflation but I'd imagine that manufacturers are getting razor thin margins (if not negative) save for efficiencies on the manfacturing/logistics side.

[Jay-Bird]

Tennis. Hahaha.

[golfro]

doesn't surprise me. Tennis is MUCH MUCH more accessible to the public. All you need is a racket and some balls and one of millions of tennis courts that are open to the public.

Golf on the other hand is a tough sport to get into unless you have the money to do so. With a standard round being anywhere from $50 to $100, it costs as much to play a single round than it is to play tennis for an entire year. Add to that cost of range, plus hundreds, if nto thousands of dollars on equipment...

Tennis. Hahaha.

Why you knocking on tennis?! I love playing tennis.

[sean_miller]

Why you knocking on tennis?! I love playing tennis.

Tennis is harder to play because you need a partner of about the same level, or someone who is better, but patient. With golf you can be terrible, but still be okay with that, because you only have to look foolish for 2-3 seconds every few minutes. Plus a lot of people are too fat and lazy to chase a tennis ball - true story.

[BostonSully]

About the kids and video games thing...

Im 22yo now. I remember when I was preteen-teenage life I spent 90% of my time either playing Basketball, Touch Football, Tag, Street Hockey, even 4square. I played alot of video games too but at night when It was too dark to play Bball or something.

I remember that the only people playing lots of videogames online at the time were 22yos with spare time. Now that I am 22 and playing more video games than I like to admit i feel like 99% of the people im playing with are like aged 12-18 im like GET OUTSIDE!!!!

Oh and I also played Football, HOckey(all year through college), Baseball, Basketball in leagues that entire time. I would literally get home from 4hr hockey practice and then play street hockey for another 3hr... What happend to kids energy because your right I havent seen a single kid running up and down my street since I stopped doing it.. Kind of sad really.

[pittpanther]

Lots of reasons for this change in behavior...

1. video games
2. easy, inexpensive Internet access - used to be only working techies could afford it, and had the knowledge to get it set up and working. Now anyone can get internet access, and it's inexpensive.
3. suburbia (not enough kids close by) - sure, some subdivisions have dozens of kids the same age, but it's just as easy to find a subdivision with few kids of the same age. Because they're in a subdivision they can't walk to find other kids.
4. suburbia (no parks in walking distance) - self-explanatory. if you can't walk to a big field to play football or baseball, and their aren't many kids in your immediate subdivision, the only time you get to play with other kids becomes scheduled activities - "play dates"
5. 24-hour TV for Kids - used to be that there was only TV for kids on Saturday morning, and maybe Sesame street after school. Now there's 24-hour Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, etc. Not only does this keep kids from making other choices (like going outside), it also keeps them from watching pro sports. Given a choice an 8-year old will watch SpongeBob instead of a baseball game, which means that kid maybe never learns to love the sport.

[golfro]

Lots of reasons for this change in behavior...

1. video games

agreed on this. you know its a problem when kids would rather play sports video games...than to play the sport itself. i saw a comic somewhere of a kid playing a video game...of a character playing a video game. 4. suburbia (no parks in walking distance) - self-explanatory. if you can't walk to a big field to play football or baseball, and their aren't many kids in your immediate subdivision, the only time you get to play with other kids becomes scheduled activities - "play dates" i think the opposite of this actually. growing up, access to parks was actually MORE limited. but we were active. I rode my bike for miles a day to play at the park. these days, kids refuse to walk or ride bikes everywhere and parents refuse to let their kids out on their bikes to goto the park. i'd actually say this is unique to America, i travel quite a bit internationally and kids have much more freedom to go out without being embedded in their head the fear of being kidnapped, etc. People are so afraid of violence and rapists and child molesters that we'd rather have our kids sit around and watch TV then ride their bike out to the park to hang out with friends. Double edged sword since of course we don't want our kids to be harmed...but in doing so, we're shielding them from enjoying their youth. 5. 24-hour TV for Kids - used to be that there was only TV for kids on Saturday morning, and maybe Sesame street after school. Now there's 24-hour Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, etc. Not only does this keep kids from making other choices (like going outside), it also keeps them from watching pro sports. Given a choice an 8-year old will watch SpongeBob instead of a baseball game, which means that kid maybe never learns to love the sport. Kind of echoing on my last point above, parents are LAZY. I never watched TV growing up. Aside from a little morning cartoons, my parents didn't let me watch TV all the time. A common problem I see, while may not be the majority, is that lazy parents would rather sit their kids infront of a TV and not bother taking care of them, then to go out and do something with their kids.

[double_j]

Tennis is harder to play because you need a partner of about the same level, or someone who is better, but patient. With golf you can be terrible, but still be okay with that, because you only have to look foolish for 2-3 seconds every few minutes. Plus a lot of people are too fat and lazy to chase a tennis ball - true story.

Totally agree with this - tennis is tough to start because you need like-minded people to start with. This means either joining an organized league or searching out partners on the boards, etc. which can be intimidating (or just a plain hassle) for someone interested in the game but not yet ready to jump all-in. And tennis with someone way below or above your skill level stops being fun really quick.

Also, it's oddly hard to find a decent court to play at in my area. The public complexes here require court reservations in advance and most of the neighborhood courts in playable condition are occupied most of the time.

[folker]

I have a 4 month old child, my first. I see guys at the golf course with their buddies that have 10 or 12 year old kids at home that don't play golf. I like my friends but I think a round of golf with my 10 year old son will be much more appealing to me in 10 years than playing with my friends.

[folker]

And I used to coach/play tennis. Sadly it's looked at as a "girly" sport by most although it's one of the hardest sports you will ever play at a highly competitive level.

[Kieran123]

I played Tennis competitively for around 6 years, but as mentioned earlier, finding people to play with on a weekend or weeknight is tough, not many people like Tennis TBH....I stopped playing because it wasn't exciting for me....I find golf a far better game, I think it's a lot harder to start with, and walking a golf course is much more enjoyable than standing on a court....and hitting an approach shot to 3 feet is way more satisfying than any ace or good return